People Are Strange When You're a Stranger
by katiesgotagun
Summary: Nala, meet Sora and Riku. Sora and Riku, meet Nala. Can Sora and Riku help the people of Carnier with their pesky heartless problem, or will darkness overwhelm them in this strange new world. RikuxOC, set after KH2, rated M for Mature audiences (sexual content and themes, graphic fight scenes, possible death scenes)


Two boys stood in the center of what looked like an abandoned desert town. They meandered through the sandy streets, looking for any signs of life.

"Man, there's no one here!" Sora complained as he kicked a rock across the dusty floor. Riku rolled his eyes, his key blade held loosely in his hand. After all, they were on watch for heartless.

"Why would we get sent here if there's no heartless?" Sora griped as he crossed his arms.

"Stop complaining," Riku snapped, "or would you rather be drowning in heartless?" Riku let his mind wander from the mission at hand, his thoughts straying to the annoyance he held for his best friend and his budding romance with Kairi. Lately, Riku felt more alone than he was when he was in the darkness. Not only was his best friend ignoring him for someone else, but that someone else just happened to be Kairi, his only other friend besides King Mickey.

Sora pouted as he grabbed a little toy boat from an empty market. He examined it when he heard a tiny gasp and the shuffle of feet. Blue eyes lifted from the worn toy to meet a pair of frightened brown.

"Hey!" Sora greeted with a large smile. "Who're you?" The little boy stood half behind a broken market stall, his eyes flickering quickly between the boat in Sora's hand and the boy holding it.

"I think that's his, Sora." Riku said as he swung his weapon on to his shoulder. Sora's eyes widened slightly as he looked at the toy.

"Is this yours?" He asked while taking a step towards the boy. In retaliation, the boy disappeared behind the cart.

"Smooth," Riku muttered as he walked towards the other side of the cart. He snatched the toy from Sora's hands and placed it on the counter of the cart the boy had disappeared behind. There was a dry wind and a few very silent seconds before the tiny hand reached out to grab the toy. The boy darted from behind the cart and down the street away from the two friends.

"Come back!" Sora yelled as a little boy ran away. The boy weaved through the abandoned market stalls quickly, which made it hard for Sora and Riku to keep sight of him.

The boy made it to a large lot that was occupied with a dying tree. Its roots reached out across the ground, twisting through the dried cracks. The branches reached up towards the blistering sun and swayed slightly with the constant dry breeze. The boy danced around the roots, looking up to find someone. He tripped slightly on a sleeping boy's legs as he tried to wake him up.

"Nala!" He shouted while he jumped up and down at the base of the tree, "Oliver!"

Nala, the woman sitting high in the trees, pushed her tangled locks of black hair away from her face as she looked down at the boy. Her mismatched blue and green eyes glittered with mischief as she met his widened brown eyes. Seeing the boy in distress, she swung gracefully from the branch and landed softly on her feet. Her sarong jingled as her body moved, the momentum of her swing puffing up the chest of her shirt and making it billow around her torso. The young girl reached up for Nala, to which Nala complied and sat the child on her hip.

Oliver stretched from his sleeping position on the rooted ground, standing lazily from the ground he was laying. He cracked his back and bent down to the little boy's height.

"What's wrong, Kyo?" The man asked while smiling at the little girl on Nala's side. "Did you get bit by a sand flea, again?" The child in her arms giggled as the little boy pouted and pointed to the opening.

"Strangers!" Nala's eyes widened considerably as she placed the girl back on the ground, kicking the base of her staff up to her waiting hand. "Oliver, I need you to take them down, alright? I need you to wait until I tell you to come out. Can you do that for me, sweetheart?" Oliver nodded, picking up Dahlia and grabbing Kyo's tiny hand. "Stay with her, Kyo." Kyo went to protest, but Nala silenced him with a kiss on the forehead.

She turned to face the two intruders who stumbled into the clearing. She stood quickly, her body jingling as it moved. Her hair whipped around her face as she turned to face the two strange men.

Riku and Sora froze at the sight of the four people. Sora stared at the oldest boy, whereas Riku's eyes were captivated by the girl. Her waist-long black hair whipped around her body, which was clad in an off-white, off the shoulder shirt that reached her midriff, a pair of cutoff jean shorts, and a blue coined sarong wrapped tightly around the waist. Her feet were covered in black combat boots, which were placed in a defensive stance. Her face looked like it was hand crafted by angels. Her lips were plump and pink, her nose was a perfect fit for the heart shaped canvas, her cheekbones cast a dangerously beautiful shadow on her cheeks, and her eye lashes cast slight shadows over her mismatched blue and green eyes. The staff she carried in her hand reminded Riku of one that he had seen shepherds use when herding sheep.

"Stay back," The woman growled, raising her wooden staff towards Sora and Riku.

"We're not gonna hurt you," Sora started, taking a slow step towards them.

"Stay back," she repeated, taking a step back.

"We just want to talk," Sora said brightly as he made eye contact with the young girl peeking form behind the woman's back.

"Oliver, take them and go to the others." She muttered to the older boy as she began to twirl the wooden staff next to her body. A whirring noise escaped from the spinning tool, and electricity began to jump from the staff onto the stone ground.

"But-" he began.

"GO." She shouted as she halted her movements. In the place of the harmless wooden shepherds staff was a dangerous looking scythe. Oliver grabbed the children's hands and ran down an alley, disappearing from view. Riku felt his key blade materialize in his hand, Sora's following soon after.

Her mismatched eyes widened in shock and slight fear as she grabbed the necklace around her neck. "Dear Gods, you have the Key!" She said as she tapped the bottom of her staff to the ground twice, the deadly scythe turning back into hooked staff. She backed herself up to the wall, feeling behind her for the door to her house. When she found it she slipped into the small house, leaving the door open.

The boys blinked slowly at how quickly she'd left. "Uh..." Sora scratched the back of his head, the key blade disappearing from his hand. Riku blinked his blue eyes and walked towards the open door. Sora stuck his head inside the wooden structure, calling out, "Hello?"

Riku walked past Sora and into the house, stopping after getting a few feet in. "Can we talk?" He asked while looking around.

"What do you want?" She asked, peeking from behind a curtain that covered a door. Her voice had as strange lilt to it that Riku hadn't noticed before.

"We just want to talk." Sora cheekily said, a smile breaking across his face.

"Why are you here?" She meekly whispered, standing from behind the curtain and exposing all of her face to the boys. Her hands gripped the staff tightly, causing her knuckles to turn white from the lack of blood flowing through them.

"We're looking for heartless." Sora said, his key blade forming in his hand as he took an experimental swing of the weapon. The girl's eyes widened in fear as she took a single step back, which Riku noticed, his hand smacking the back of Sora's head. "Ow, what was that for?" Riku jerked his head towards the weapon in his friend's hands, motioning for him to put it away. Sora stared at Riku for a moment, not quite getting what he was saying until he saw the girl take another step back. With a small gesture he made the key disappear.

"Infant," Riku sighed as he took a slow step forward, holding his hands out to the girl to show his weapon-less hands. "Have you had problems with little black creatures that come out of the ground?"

"Little Demons? Yes." She nodded slowly, her eyes still wary of the strangers. "They came during the harvest."

Riku shot Sora a meaningful look, both of them understanding that they needed to seal the world as soon as possible. "You said there were others. Can you take us to them?"

She bit her lip, contemplating on taking them to her village. On the positive side, they could know how to get rid of the Little Demon's once and for all. On the negative side, they could terrorize her village. Her eyes flickered as she thought of the destruction from the little beings, forcing her village underground. She let out a sigh through her nose, her hands clenching tightly around her staff as she shut her eyes.

Gods help me, she thought.

"Follow me." She sighed, walking out the door of her house and down the alleyway that the others had ran down. Riku and Sora shared looks before following the girl, having to stay close as she made various twists and turns. She stopped at a small door, pushing it open for the two men to walk in before her. Their yells echoed through the room as they unknowingly fell into the slide that led down to the underground village. With a smirk, Nala threw her staff in before jumping in herself, thoroughly enjoying the slide down. She heard the echoing crash of the boys hitting the ground, loud groans filtering up to Nala as she slid down.

With practiced skill, Nala was able to stand in a crouch as she slid, managing to land on her feet before she was roughly thrown from the slide, grabbing the provided metal pipe ten feet in the air to steady herself before dropping to the sandy floor. The two boy's groaned as they watched her execute the move perfectly, wishing they had known they were going down the hole in the first place.

"Come." Nala commanded, walking towards a crack in the walls. The crack was tiny, meaning the boys could barely fit through it. It seemed to get smaller as they walked, Sora yelping as he got stuck a few times. After what seemed like ages, the rock of the walls began to fade into metal, pipes and cogs sticking out and making it harder to see when the tunnel would end. Metallic grinding echoed through the crack, signaling their nearing to the town. Finally, they climbed over one last large pipe and came to an overhang, gasping in awe at the thriving town below them.

There was a prosthetic light shining from the top of the cavern onto the entire town, the rusty metal buildings shining harshly as the light touched it. Steam and smoke rose from the houses, clouding the air and dancing around in the light, giving the town an ethereal appearance. Sora and Riku stared in awe at the flaming birds flying from building to building, smoke and flames following in their wake.

"Welcome to Carnier." Nala said, motioning her hands out to the small city. Turning away from the rand site, she began to jump onto pipes to get her to ground level. The boys stood staring at the town and the musky scent of oil and firewood drifting through their noses. "Ey!" She called grabbing their attention, her accent thick as she spoke. "Follow me."

The boys followed her carefully, stepping where she stepped and swinging where she swung until they were safely on the ground. She swiftly walked along the outskirts of the town, ducking under caravans holding food and baked goods, and danced around the stalls that sold silk. The boy's nearly lost her once or twice, but she would come back and find them, cursing at them in whatever language she was speaking. It sounded almost Russian, though.

"We're here." She said roughly as she stopped in front of a dirty building. She tapped twice on the door before a little slot opened up, revealing harsh brown eyes.

"What do you want?" He asked, in their language, the girl keeping eye contact with the man's eerie eyes. Sora straightened his back, trying to see past the man's head into the room.

"Do not test me, boy." She said back, her tongue clicking as she spoke the foreign language. Riku stared at her mouth as it moved. He could not understand a word she was saying but the tone she used made him wary.

"Fine." The man acquiesced, sliding the small slot shut. Nala heard the cogs behind the door clank together, signaling its opening. With nimble hands, Nala grabbed the boy's by the arm, and pulled them out of the way of the fast moving door.

"Whoa!" Sora yelped, flailing his arms for balance. Nala rolled her eyes and walked into the building, leaving the boy's standing outside. "That door could have killed me." He complained, looking with wide eyes at Riku, who was just as shocked at the speed of the door. If the native hadn't pulled them back- he cringed just thinking about it. With a nudge in Sora's direction, Riku began to walk after the woman. As soon as they were fully in, the door snapped shut and the man that answered the door growled at the boys. With a grimace of a smile, Sora inched away from the scary man. The boys walked slowly forward, the hallway they had been pushed into getting darker, illuminated only by the faint light from the open door at the end of the hall.

"Nala!" They heard the little boy yell as they came to the open door. "Nala!" The little boy launched himself into the woman's arms, her hands soothing him by running through his hair. She hushed him as he let out a whimper, his body shaking. Strangers never brought anything good.

"They won't hurt you, Kyo." Nala cooed, her skirts being tugged on by Dahlia, who impatiently stomped her feet as she waited to be picked up. With a sigh, Nala rearranged Kyo onto her hip, bending swiftly to bring Dahlia into her arms. Dahlia dug her face into Nala's neck as they boys finally stepped into the room.

The room was a light bronze color, illuminated by standing candles. A semi-circle of chairs stood ominously at the end of the room, four chairs of the five filled with three boys and one girl, their orange robes making the room slightly more ominous.

"How dare you come before the council?" A threatening looking man sitting in the second spot from the right asked angrily.

"Verto," Nala called just as angrily, her gaze hard and her voice cold. The man flinched, his gaze dropping from her eyes submissively. Dahlia tugged on one of Nala's braid, making her frown lift to a smile.

"Why are you here?" The woman asked quietly, her white hair intricately braided on either side of her face.

Sora was busy looking around the room when Riku looked back at him, making Riku sigh heavily through his nose. He pursed his lips before he thought of an appropriate answer, his eyes seeking out Nala and seeing her nod of encouragement.

"We're here to stop the Heartless." He said, summoning his key blade. The people in the chair gasped, Dahlia grabbed tightly onto Nala and Kyo let out a little gasp.

"They mean us no harm." Nala cooed, placing both the children on the ground. They ran out of the room when Nala sent them a look. She took careful steps towards Riku, keeping her eyes locked with his. "This could be the key we are looking for." She placed a gentle hand on Riku's, barely touching the key blade with the other.

Riku's breath hitched as Nala touched his hand, the small contact sending tingles through his body. The breath he took was heady, filled with the smell of iron and something fruity. When Nala closed her eyes and pressed harder onto the weapon, Riku fought closing his own eyes as she gripped his hand a little bit tighter. A small shock wave of energy passed through the both of them, causing Nala grin and Riku's eyes to widen.

"This is it," Nala nearly squealed, her hand disappearing from Riku's and leaving him tingling. "They can help us!" She ran up to the chairs, the smile on her face blinding as she sewed hope into the native's. "We can finally go home!"

"Why should we trust these strangers?" Verto called angrily, standing from his chair and hunching menacingly.

"Learn your place, child." Nala hissed, pointing her staff at the man threateningly. Verto sat back down, a grimace on his face at the reminder of his age.

"Wait, child?" Sora asked, finally paying attention to what was happening around him. Nala dropped her staff, turning to face the young boy.

"Verto is the youngest on the court." She began to explain, leaning against her staff. "He's only 179."

"179?!" Sora asked, flabbergasted. "If that's young, who's the oldest?"

"I am." Nala said with her head cocked to the side.

"How old are you?" Riku asked.

"457." Nala said with a knowing smile. To outsiders, she looked about twenty, but to the trained eye, her age showed in her grace and knowledge.

"Oh my god," Sora whispered, making Nala chuckle as she walked towards the center chair.

"This is my proposition for you," Nala said as she sat down, her staff resting on her shoulder as she leaned forward. "You will help us destroy the Little Demons, and in return, we will house you and teach you the ways of our people." Verto made a muffled noise of discontent as she spoke, holding a hand over his mouth to block the noise. Sora looked at Riku, who shrugged, before turning back to Nala.

"Why not?" Sofa said, walking towards Nala. Nala's eyes lit up as she stood from her metal chair, her lips parting in a smile as she walked to meet Sora, grabbing his extending hand and shaking it.

"Lesson one," Nala started in a hushed whisper. "We don't shake hands." She leaned forward and planted three kisses on Sora's face, two on his cheeks and one on his forehead. Sora's face lit up in a furious blush as he let out a choking noise. Nala turned to Riku and sent him a crooked smile. She placed the same three kisses on his face, taking note of his sharp inhale of breath when she got close to his face. Riku's body flushed as her lips touched his cheeks, and his heart thundered in his chest; he prayed that she wouldn't notice.

"I will show you where you will stay, follow me." Nala said with a smile as she led the boys from the intimidating room.


End file.
